Chapter 1

Viktor

CHAPTER ONE

Present day

“Name a price,” Mikhail says. “I owe you, Viktor. It’s time.”

My oldest brother and pakhan Mikhail looks at me over the fuzzy head of his sleeping son and says, “I am indebted to you for everything.”

I shake my head slightly, dismissing the weight of his gratitude. “You don't owe me. I did what I had to do. I did what you needed me to do. It was crucial that I take care of what's yours because we're family, and you know that.” I pop the top of a beer and drink half of it in a few gulps.

I look out into the dark blue-black haze of a late September evening, the lights of the city twinkling in the distance from our vantage point in The Cove. We’ve had a tumultuous few months with a brief pause for our brother Nikko’s wedding, but now it’s time for us to continue to make our moves. We’ve made great strides here, and it’s time we kick things up.

Since our father’s death, we’ve been doing everything in our power to strengthen our ties and put down roots as the most powerful family in The Cove, nestled between Coney Island and Manhattan.

Every day that passes counts. Every strategic move a power play.

Mikhail’s voice grows softer, more earnest. “You saved my wife’s life, Viktor.” Mikhail loves his wife Aria with all his heart, and on more than one occasion, she’s been in grave danger. I’m not the only one who’s protected her. We all have. It’s what we do.

I shift in my seat, feeling the unease settle over me. “Family does for family. You’d have done the same for me,” I respond, my eyes briefly meeting his before settling on the infant. “Just make sure you keep them safe. That’s all I ask.”

The room falls silent, the magnitude of my request left lingering. Mikhail nods, his expression solemn. “I will. And anything you need, Viktor, it’s yours. You name it.”

The other brothers present—Lev, our younger brother and Aleksandr, second in command to Mikhail—listen intently to our conversation. I can sense Lev getting restless beside me, tapping his foot as if he’s holding himself back from interrupting.

“You guys don't get it.” Lev speaks up from the back of the office, his voice cutting through the previous chatter. I’m honestly proud of him for speaking up. For years, he was the quietest, under the thumb of our father and overshadowed by the rest of us older brothers. Our youngest brother often keeps to himself but misses nothing. He and I have grown closer over the past few months while my brother Nikko was stationed in Moscow.

“Leave it, Lev.” I shake my head. Jesus.

“What are you talking about?” Aleks asks, his curiosity piqued. Head of cybersecurity, he prides himself on noting everything, but he’s been deep in the weeds researching a new development on the West Coast and hasn’t looked up from his laptop.

Lev continues, his voice firm and clear. “He doesn't want money. He doesn't want things. Viktor doesn't want any of that. He already has his own house; he has everything he needs… well, almost everything that he needs.”

The room falls into a brief silence as everyone processes Lev's insight, waiting for him to reveal what it is that I still need. I look away, my jaw tensing. He’s read my fucking mind. When Mikhail offered me the proverbial genie’s lamp, I immediately knew what I would wish for when I rubbed the golden sides.

I’d only need one wish.

“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath. My brothers hide nothing from each other. I won’t hide this.

“Lydia Ivanova,” Mikhail says quietly, almost reverently.

Silence reigns for long moments before Aleksandr speaks up. “Is she available? Has anything changed?”

Lev shakes his head. “No.”

Mikhail growls. “Since when does that fucking matter? You know our mantra.”

Aleks’s lips twist into a grim smile, his gaze hardening. “No one and nothing stands in our way.”

I stand up abruptly, my voice low and resolute. “I don't need anything. I don’t need anyone. It’s too risky.”

Blowback from the Ledyanoye Bratstvo, the group to which Lydia Ivanova’s been promised, is more powerful than we are and known for their ruthlessness. The retribution if we intervened would be swift and severe.

But before I can continue, Lev interrupts. He’s smaller in stature than I am but a force to be reckoned with. His eyes gleam with intensity, his arms crossed on his chest.

“You've taken your eyes off the prize, brother. You haven’t seen what the others have.” He leans forward. “Do you have any idea what Timur Yudin plans on doing with her when they’re married? What he plans to do to the Ivanovs?”

I draw in a sharp breath, willing my racing pulse to slow the way my mentor Kolya taught me to do when I was just a boy who didn’t know his own strength.

It doesn’t help.

“I get it,” Lev presses on, his fierce gaze burning into mine. He isn’t the young kid I once knew any more, but strong and powerful in more ways than one. “It would fucking kill you to see a woman like her treated like property. And if you killed Yudin like you wanted to, the blowback to the rest of us would be brutal.”

I dig my fingernails into the palms of my hands. He goes on.

“Yudin plans on sharing her with his men. He’s a filthy, sick son of a bitch. He’s already filmed her and shared it. He’s got one in his crew who jerks off every fucking night to pictures of her on his phone.”

“Where?” I growl. “Who?”

“Sit down, Viktor.”

I shake my head, and Aleks puts his hand on Mikhail’s arm. “Let him. He’ll turn into the fucking Hulk right here in front of you if you don’t.”

I pace, trying to let the rage bleed off me.

“He plans on decimating the Ivanovs. He’s an insidious fucking snake and has already made strategic moves by infiltrating their ranks and spreading misinformation to sow distrust within their leadership. By marrying into the Ivanov family, he gains access to their secrets and vulnerabilities. And unlike us,” he says, pausing for emphasis, “he doesn’t plan on strengthening by collaboration. He plans on decimating for his personal gain. Over time, he’ll destroy them. Sabotage business deals, assassinate the Ivanov power players.” He shakes his head and lowers his voice.

“You’ve watched Mikhail, Aleks, and now Nikko get married.” Mikhail married Aria, hacker extraordinaire. Aleks then married Harper Bianchi in an arranged marriage. Nikko married Vera – Lydia’s younger sister. One by one, couple by couple, we’ve solidified our family.

“We’ve grown in strength here in The Cove, and we all know joining forces with the Ivanovs is complicated.” He shakes his head and looks at Mikhail. “Lydia Ivanova’s marriage to that self-centered prick would fragment our control as well. She’d be used and discarded.” He looks to me next. “We have to intervene and fucking end this before their marriage.”

Aleks and Mikhail share another look, an unspoken understanding passing between them as they consider Lev's words and the implications they carry.

I don’t even want to think of actually… having her. If I let myself hope… if it doesn’t happen… My mouth goes dry.

I pace in the office and shake my head. “Fuck.”

“Her marriage to him will bring severe consequences,” Lev counters. “If we secure the hand of both Ivanov women, you know what that means for us.”

I do. It means creating a foundation that decades of influence and legacy couldn’t rival. It means allowing brutal devastation to our friends and family if we fail.

But it’s complicated. So fucking complicated.

Mikhail holds my gaze. “Tell me what you know about Yudin.”

I look away, my jaw tense. “I’ve stayed away.”

I had to.

Watching her go anywhere near him sends my blood to boiling, and my gaze grows hazy. I have to focus on protecting my family and can’t risk going nuclear on a man who means nothing to me. I can’t expend energy on a situation that’s out of my control.

I’ve watched. I’ve watched so carefully but from a distance. “He hasn’t hurt her, and that’s all that matters.”

Timur Yudin buys her nice things, makes sure she has a guard on her, albeit it a weaker one than I would have, and has never once raised a hand to her. I would know. If he did, I’d rip his dick off and shove it down his throat so he choked on it while I slit his throat.

“Yet,” Aleks says, shaking his head. “Aria’s got a file on him. We researched heavily after Nikko’s marriage to Vera.”

My skin prickles, and I swivel my gaze to Aleks.

Aria, Mikhail’s wife, is our head of cybersecurity and excellent at what she does. When our brother Nikko married Lydia’s sister Vera Ivanova, it became necessary to zone in on whoever might pose a threat to us.

I look away, not wanting to listen to the details.

What good will it do? I’ll only want to fucking torture every cell in his body before I murder him with my own bare hands. I hate him for being near her. I despise him for not being worthy of her. If I find out one goddamn detail about him?—

“He’s a master at orchestrating these deadly catastrophes,” Aleks says, his voice icy. “He makes sure people in his stable have fatal accidents, then he swoops in and collects hidden insurance policies.”

I shake my head. Fucking douchebag move, but it’s not out of the ordinary to?—

Aleks goes on relentlessly. “He stages human trafficking. He sells women and children as if they’re cattle. He’s a top trader in the black market.”

I clench my jaw and stare straight ahead. The fucking asshole. I’m no saint, but anyone involved in human trafficking deserves to be dealt with severely. He’ll live to regret every vile action he’s taken. No one harms the innocent on my watch.

And I want her. I want her so fucking bad it consumes my every thought. If I can’t have her… if she ends up with that self-serving, sadistic prick…

Lev speaks up. “There’s more. Don’t shut this down, Viktor, and fucking listen.” My gaze snaps to his. “Three months ago, his lawyer got him acquitted on accusations of ownership of child pornography, but he’s guilty as fuck. He’s just untouchable. Too much money and too much power.”

“Fuck,” I growl.

Aleksandr delivers the final blow. “Aria uncovered accusations that were deeply buried. He brutally assaulted his last girlfriend. She faked her death to escape, but he found her. When he did, he broke her jaw before she threw herself into oncoming traffic.”

Bile rises in my throat with the effort of restraining myself.

“It’s not a question of if he will hurt her, Viktor, but when.”

“You’ve been tailing him?” I growl. “Where is he?”

Aleks frowns, making a few clicks on his keyboard. “Two hours north of here. Near the Mid-Hudson Bridge.” He reaches for his phone without breaking eye contact with Mikhail, signaling the gravity of the decision. He dials quickly, and the room falls silent, waiting for the call to connect.

“Nikko,” Aleksandr begins when the call is picked up, “we need to discuss the Ivanov situation.”

Nikko, always quick on the uptake, responds, “I’ve been waiting for this call. Go.”

Mikhail takes over, his voice firm. “It’s about Lydia. We need to secure her for Viktor.” He fills him in.

From what I’ve seen and heard, Lydia and Vera are not close, but that was likely their parents’ fault. They are still sisters.

Nikko pauses, the gears turning as he considers the implications, especially given his ties with Lydia’s sister. “Alright, I see the angle. I’ll set things in motion. But remember, this isn't just about owing us; it's about aligning our families for the long term.” He needs the Ivanovs’ buy-in. After the death of their pakhan, new leadership has taken position, and Nikko is the only one who has a working relationship with the Ivanov Bratva. He’ll know how to play this.

They go on to discuss the details and how they’ll make it happen while my mind races with possibilities. There’s a faint buzzing in the back of my mind, a combination of disbelief in what we’re about to do and the need to find Timur Yudin and destroy him.

As the call ends, the atmosphere in the room shifts from tension to a more calculated focus. Mikhail looks around, ensuring everyone is on the same page. “Nikko will handle the arrangements. We need to be strategic and careful. This isn't just about acquiring what Viktor wants but about positioning ourselves favorably within the community and ensuring long-term alliances.”

“And dealing with the fucking blowback from Yudin,” I mutter.

Aleksandr nods in agreement, his mind already racing through potential scenarios. “We have to consider every move as part of a larger game. Lydia is the key piece. Not only does Viktor get what he desires, but her connection through marriage ties us to a powerful family, strengthening our influence.”

Lev, usually the quietest, seems fueled with his need to see this happen and adds, “And we need to keep this clean. No loose ends that can come back to haunt us.”

Easier said than done.

I’ve been silently listening but finally have to speak up, my voice low and contemplative. “Make sure Lydia is treated with respect in this process.”

I’ll take good care of her. Such good care of her.

My brothers nod, understanding the delicate balance of fear and favor they need to maintain. This isn’t just another acquisition; this is personal, and it has to be handled with precision.

Mikhail's expression darkens as he leans forward, the lightness of our earlier considerations gone. “While we aim to manage this smoothly, understand that Lydia will likely not come willingly. We’ll need to compel her.”

Of course she wouldn’t. She might see us, or me in particular, as a threat. She’s fiercely independent and resists being controlled or used in any of her family’s political moves or machinations. Being forced to marry me after her engagement to Yudin will likely piss her off. Who knows what she thinks about me? Given what I know about her, she doesn’t easily trust and almost never lets her guard down.

This won’t be easy.

Mikhail smiles. “You know… we can align this necessity with an old Russian prophecy known to both our families, which we can use to our advantage.”

Aleksandr, intrigued, raises an eyebrow. “A prophecy? Explain.”

Mikhail nods, a grim smile touching his lips. “Yes, the prophecy known to families that hail from Moscow speaks of a 'Scourge'—a great turmoil that one family will endure, only to be saved by an alliance through marriage. It’s vague enough to instill fear and acceptance. It’s believed that rejecting the prophesied union will bring disaster, and embracing it will restore balance and prosperity.”

I shake my head. “That’s ridiculous. We’re all too pragmatic to believe in old prophecies. No. If I’m going to have Lydia—” I pause and get my shit together before I continue. “I want it out in the open. I want to solidify our alliance with the Ivanov family like Nikko did and for the same reason.” I shake my head. “She can’t go to that monster.”

I’ll do way more than fuck him over.

I dislike manipulation and typically prefer brute force, but this situation requires a delicate touch. “I want the Ivanovs to believe that aligning with us is not only inevitable but beneficial.”

I shake my head, still disbelieving that this could work, that Lydia… could be mine.

“And if it doesn’t work?” I try to keep my tone light, pretending that what hangs in the balance could make or literally fucking break me. I fail. My voice cracks.

“It will work,” Mikhail says. “I promise you.”

When I finally leave Mikhail’s office, I’m weary but energized.

Lydia Ivanova.

I drive to my home on the Manhattan border. I walk up the brick steps on autopilot, barely noticing where I’m going or what I’m doing.

Nikita, my large, muscular Tibetan Mastiff, meets me at the door, and I scratch her ears. “Give me five,” I tell her. I need a minute before we go for a walk. I take the stairs to my bedroom two at a time and walk straight to the closet hidden deep in the back of the room.

I slip the key into the lock, and the door creaks open on its hinges. I give myself a moment to lean against the worn wood and take in a deep breath before letting my gaze roam over every damn piece I’ve collected.

A nearly empty bottle of Opulence I lifted from her locker at the gym a year ago. A lipstick-stained napkin I confiscated at a coffee shop where she met her mother a few months ago. A torn page from a notebook she carries with the simplest of shopping lists on it. A disposable, empty coffee cup with her name scribbled on the side in permanent marker. A ticket stub from a concert she snuck into when she was still a teen here in America. Her photograph from her senior year in high school and a more recent one I found online and had made into a print. Her copy of Wuthering Heights she left behind all those years ago that I’ve read so many times the pages are falling apart.

Lydia’s shrine.

I lift the bottle. The heady, intense fragrance is her signature scent. I lift it and give myself the luxury of a deep, cleansing breath of it. Just smelling it conjures up the mental image I have of her.

I let myself linger through the shrine. I finger the napkin and press it to my lips. I read her shopping list and recite it from memory.

Chocolate

Coffee

Oranges

Something for dinner

I run my thumb along the edge of the coffee cup, where I imagine her lips graced. I place them all back down with reverence and stare at the picture of her as a teen and compare it with the way she looks now.

She’s only grown more beautiful, more exquisite, more sensual with time. Curvy and lush, she’s imposing yet graceful. Her long, dark hair cascades over her shoulders in waves, her eyes expressive and intense. She favors flowing tops and dresses that accentuate her curves.

Lydia.

With a sigh, I place everything back with precision, shut the door, and lock it behind me. I stifle a yelp when I almost trample Nikita beneath my feet.

“Jesus,” I mutter, my heart hammering in my chest. “You should give me some notice you’re there. God.”

I look at the locked door with a frown then turn around and face the bedroom. It’s hard to even believe, but if this works… if Mikhail actually pulls it off and Lydia becomes mine… I might need a bit of a feminine touch to this room.

And fucking safety measures put in place.

I snap on Nikita’s leash and head out to take her for a walk.

My phone rings with a call from my brother Nikko as I head out the entrance of my home, a few miles from the Romanov family headquarters.

“Yeah?”

“We spoke with Zofia.” Zofia Ivanova, my sister-in-law Vera and Lydia’s mother, is the Ivanov family matriarch in the wake of her husband’s death. She and my brother Nikko are the ones who make all major decisions.

“And?” My heart smashes against my rib cage, my mouth instantly dry.

“Her mother’s amenable to the idea, but I need more time. I’m working on it. Let’s assume this is a go and work accordingly.”

I swallow hard.

“Alright. Thanks.”

“But you know we need to destroy Yudin, Viktor. You know what he’ll do in retaliation. We can’t leave a single shred of him behind.”

I nod. “Consider it done.”